Kevin Pietersen Switch hit - Genius or Illegal?

Alessandro Dellanzo by Correspondent Written on June 20, 2008
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Is this stroke a bit of genius or a crafty way to outplay the bowler that has been the debate raging on this week, this debate concerns Kevin Pietersen's switch hitting six that he performed in the first   one day international between New  Zealand and England.

 

The Main arguments against this shot are that it gives the batsman an unfair advantage as the fielding team have already set the field suitable for a right handing batsman, with the batsman switching his stance and grip and exploiting the gaps in the field.

 

Other Factors against the switch hit shot include the laws of the game seeing as the batsman has changed his stance does his on side and leg side change this is in regards wides given typically these are given if the ball is passed the batsman’s leg stump but if the bowler bowls to the left handers off stump is it a wide?

 

The MCC( Marylebone Cricket Club) who enforce the rules had this to say regarding LBW's and wides: "MCC accepts that the use of a 'switch-hit' may have implications for other Laws of the game, principally Law 25 (Wide ball) and Law 36 (LBW), and will continue to research and discuss these implications."

 

On the other hand, people have given a lot of praise to this shot saying things like 'It's Innovative'

'Taking cricket to a new level' On Tuesday the MCC had a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue of the switch hit this is what they had to say in regards to this issue.

 

 

"MCC believes the 'switch-hit' stroke is a difficult shot to execute and that it incurs a great deal of risk for the batsman.

 

"It also offers bowlers a good chance of taking a wicket and therefore MCCbelieves that the shot is fair to both batsman and bowlers.

 

"Furthermore, MCC acknowledges that while bowlers must inform umpires and batsmen of their mode of delivery, they do not provide a warning of the type of delivery that they will bowl (for example, an off-cutter or a slower ball).

 

"It therefore concludes that the batsman should have the opportunity — should they wish — of executing the 'switch-hit' stroke."

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written on June 20, 2008 Opinion

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